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Chapter Two: The Other Side of This Life

It took Penny and Maddie all of two minutes to gather up the stuff Maddie grabbed when Penny asked her if she wanted to take anything with her. Maddie ran up to her room, as if she was scared Penny wasn't going to be there when she got back, grabbed a baby blanket that was torn and tattered and dragged Elmo out of the room as she sped through the house making her way back to Penelope.

As she ran back into the living room, she ran straight towards Pen, her previous inhibitions about contact with other people seemingly disappeared when it came to her and Penny now. Her arms attached themselves to Penny's legs, everyone quietly watching as Elmo and the blanket was squished between them. Maddie didn't seem to realize just how gigantic the moment was between her and the adults in the room as they looked around at each other with smiles on their faces.

Pen didn't realize she could get any happier with life when Maddie first grabbed her finger and smiled and spoke to her. She hadn't said anything else after that, but the fact that she was quickly losing her fear and inhibitions around touching Pen said a lot about how much potential love and affection the little girl had been holding back from other people. Pen was stuck between wanting to grab her and smother her with hugs and kisses, and giving her space and time to make those steps on her own.

"Okay, I think we better go if we're going to make it back to D.C. before it's too late," Pen states as she stands up, a toddler attached to her leg still. She reaches down to cautiously run her hands down her hair in a soothing manner. Feeling Maddie's cheek lay on her leg as she keeps running her hands, she feels a sense of relief that her touch had been well received by the skittish toddler.

"Alright, call us when you get there okay? So we don't worry ourselves to death all night," Marcus says, giving Penny a hug of encouragement, making sure to sidestep the child at her leg.

Taylor just watches the two girls, her heart bursting with excitement for the two of them. She could see now what Marcus was talking about when he mentioned the idea of Penny being a good mother figure for Maddie. She was skeptical at first; the little girl had a lot of things holding her back from being seen as a good candidate for adoption, and if she wasn't so out of her prime child raising years she probably would have considered taking her in herself. But this was definitely much better for the little girl.

She had a feeling Penelope needed Maddie just as much as Maddie needed her.

"Thank you, for everything you guys," Penny says, her voice cracking with emotion as she reaches over to hug Taylor before the older woman can protest.

"No, thank you dear," Taylor responds, her raspy voice sounding just as emotional as Penny's, "I'm just glad you and Maddie found each other. You guys be safe, okay?"

Nodding in agreement, Pen grabbed Maddie's hand that was holding on to her leg walking out to the SUV she had rented to make the long five hour drive to the small town in Virginia. The car had a built in car seat, but Penny wasn't sure she was too comfortable with Maddie – her being so small and fragile – riding in it without some extra security an actual installed car seat could offer her. So she'd sent Marcus out on a car seat hunt while her and Taylor finished filling out paperwork, he even installed it for her which she was very glad for, because she was pretty sure she wouldn't have any idea how to put that thing in there herself without some serious assistance.

Spencer had to help her install her seat she had in her car at home for Henry, and she never took it back out in case she would have to put it back in herself one day and end up not knowing how to do it.

As the approached the car, Penny opened the door and crouched down to speak to Maddie at her eye level. She knew kids felt more at ease when adults didn't tower over them. That way there wasn't such an obvious sign of power between the adult and the child, as opposed to a mutual loving relationship.

"I'm going to put you in the car seat now, so you can be safe and protected as we drive to my apartment, you new home Maddie," Pen explains to the little girl. She was trying to make this transition as smooth as possible for her, especially given the fact that a lot of things in her life were going to be completely changed from anything she had ever known in her short little life. She figured if she kept communicating with Maddie, the little girl would hopefully not be as frightened knowing what was going on and what was happening in the near future.

Maddie nods in understanding, letting Pen pick her up and buckle in before she hands her Elmo and the blanket she was carrying around with her. After making sure she was secure, and not frightened – she turned around to see Marcus running towards her, a pink bag in tow.

"Wait a sec Pen!"

Smiling at the image of Marcus' manly frame toting around a large pink tote, she smiles at her friend keeping Maddie's door open while she waits for him, not wanting to frighten her thinking she was going to be left alone in the car.

"I got this for you at the store too," Marcus says, handing the bag over to Penny – scratching the back of his head in a sign of discomfort.

When Penny opens the bag, she sees a bag of diapers, wipes, a princess Sippy cup, an extra pair of clothes and some snacks and juice drinks she could pour in the cup. All in all it looked like a bag of essentials any parent would take whenever they would leave the home with their child. Her eyes teared up as it hit her full force that she was officially a mother. She had a beautiful little girl who would need to be tucked in, cuddled, loved, fed, taken care of – she was responsible for someone else's well being now. Her life wasn't just about her anymore. It felt incredible. A mixture of fear and excitement bubbled inside her when she looked up and saw Marcus smiling at her knowingly she threw her arms around him and squealed as she hugged him.

His deep laughter as he hugged her back with just as much vigor lightened the whole atmosphere.

"Thank you Mark! This is amazing! I was just thinking about how I have absolutely nothing ready for any of this."

"No thanks needed, I was happy to get you two going…. You have a big heart, a home, and plenty of love to give her Penny. Everything else, you can buy – but that stuff is priceless," Mark says quietly, watching as the little girl sits in the car content with her surroundings as she looks around the car curiously taking in everything around her.

"We'll call you when we get back tonight. It probably won't be till late though," Pen says putting the bag over her shoulder and stepping behind her to put her hand on the door as she gets ready to close the car and make her way home with Maddie.

"I don't care babe, I won't be able to sleep till I know you're both safe anyway," Marcus responds knowingly and shoving his hands in his pockets giving her a last smile of encouragement.

It was a bittersweet moment. He knew that. She was taking a second to take everything in that had happened in the last 12 hours. And just like that, she quickly shut the door before rushing back in to get in the driver's seat.

As the car drove away and Penny waved back to him, Mark couldn't help but grin as he watched Maddie imitate Penny from the back seat waving to him as well.

The five hour ride back took seven hours total, making it so they didn't get home till two in the morning with Penny stopping more times than she normally would. She was giving herself ample time to make sure Maddie was fed and her diaper remained clean so she wouldn't get a rash from sitting in anything for too long. For the most part Maddie was content to sit quietly in the back looking out the window as Penny drove, keeping the radio on low so the sound wouldn't overwhelm the toddler's sensitive ear drums.

When they arrived back home, Penny parked in the parking garage for her apartment and turned off the car before looking back in the backseat seeing Maddie asleep contently in her seat. Even in her deep slumber, Elmo remained in a tight grip in her little arms. Deciding to leave most of their stuff in the car till later, Pen just grabbed the pink tote that had all of Maddie's items and put it on the floor beside the car as she opened the back seat and quietly took the sleeping toddler into her arms, careful to not frighten or wake her. In her deep slumber, Maddie snuggled instantly into the crook of Penelope's neck – as if she'd done it a million times before with ease and seeking comfort.

Penelope smiles to herself as she feels her heart expand in her chest in sheer happiness. She reaches down to grab her purse, careful to not topple over with the extra weight that she's carrying in her arms. A familiar dark arm gets to the bag before she can, her heart lodging in her throat as she looks up and sees Derek giving her a look of confusion and astonishment.

His eyebrows burrow as he keeps looking between her and a sleeping Maddie as if he's trying to figure out what was going on. She starts to feel a little uncomfortable under his gaze, so she starts walking towards her apartment, feeling him close behind her as they make their way to the elevator. The silence – an unusual atmosphere around them – makes her uncomfortable. Once she makes it into her apartment, she heads straight for her bedroom, not having anything else ready for Maddie at the moment she figures the little girl can sleep in her bed with her until they have a chance to go shopping. Slipping her shoes off and tucking her in putting pillows around her to make sure she doesn't roll off her bed since it's pretty high off the floor, she leaves the bedside lamp on low to make sure if Maddie wakes up she doesn't completely freak out. As she leaves, she leaves the door wide open mentally preparing herself to try and explain everything to Derek.

Sitting by himself in the living room that he used to spend countless hours and days in for the past almost eight years, Derek found himself wondering when his relationship with his baby girl got to a point where he didn't even know what was going on in her life. Like when he found out this afternoon after running into Kevin at the mall when he was with Janie that Penelope had broken up with Kevin two, almost three months ago – and never told anyone.

Kevin seemed surprised, almost a little pleased, at the shock that had come over Derek when he told him. But according to him, it wasn't a sad or bad break up at all. In fact, he said he was planning on breaking up with her since he was in line for a transfer to another field office, so when she brought it up and did it for him it was fine. She didn't seem upset about it in the least.

Then he tries to consistently get ahold of her for the last 24 hours, even trying to make his way into her apartment when she didn't answer her phone or return any of his messages, but then finds out his key no longer worked, which means she had changed her locks recently and didn't tell him either.

So he waits outside her apartment, like a stalker or a cop on a stakeout – hoping and praying that she shows up soon before he has to call his co-workers and file a missing person's report on her. He saw her pull up in an unrecognizable SUV around two am, so he followed her into the garage. By the time she got out and pulled out a bright pink bag, she opened the back seat, he assumed to grab something else – not SOMEONE else. The little sleeping girl in her arms was the spitting image of Penelope and by the comfortable way they cuddled against each other, he knew there was something deeper about their relationship than his first thought that maybe she was just babysitting for a friend or something.

When she made her way quietly out of the room, he noticed she had changed into a simple cotton nightdress with a matching robe. He had seen her in it before. Countless times.

And every time he saw her in it, he couldn't help but stare at the way it hugged her porcelain skin, and her generous curves. She used to blush like crazy every time he did it – make a flirtatious comment that they both knew neither one of them would follow through with in order to break the sexual tension in the air. Then they'd be back to normal.

Only this time, she avoided sitting by him, opting to sit in the ottoman alone and avoiding his gaze while she gently closed the robe – grasping on to the belt as some sort of security blanket.

He didn't know where to start this conversation. Was that girl hers? Did Pen have a whole secret life that he never knew about? Was she with someone else now? And why was she sitting all the way over there?

The phone rang causing them both to jump a little at the noise it had made in the silent apartment. Penelope jumped to answer it – in an effort to quiet the noise in order to not wake Maddie, and to put off her explanations to Derek a little longer.

She smiled softly as she looked at the caller ID, not hesitating when she put the phone to her ear and answered, "Hey Marcus," looking away from Derek who gets an angry look on his face even though she's not sure why. "Yes, Maddie and I made it home okay. I'm sorry I forgot to call you; I just put her to bed less than a minute ago. – Yes, the trip was fine. It took a little longer than normal but she's not used to long car rides so I was being a little overzealous with my pit stops," she adds a laugh at the end of the sentence. "Okay, well take care of yourself handsome…Yes, we'll come back and visit you soon…. Or maybe you can come see us when everything settles down? Alright, good night. I'll talk to you later... – Okay, bye."

Hanging up the phone, Pen sits back down trying to figure out where to start to explain things.

"You have a daughter?"

The slight hurt in Derek's tone of voice makes her stomach clench nervously.

"Yes."

The look of confusion he gives her as he looks back up at her after that one worded answer she gives him, makes her backtrack and try and explain herself a bit.

"She's my foster daughter and I'm in the middle of the adopting process right now."

More silence takes over the room as she watches him nod, the only sign showing that he'd heard what she'd said.

"When?"

Pen, looks up at the clock then back down at him before answering.

"As of 12 hours ago."

Letting out a shaky breath, he pulls her into an unexpected hug feeling her tense a little before she relaxes into his embrace.

"Congrats babygirl."

She feels and hears him whisper in her ear as his arms tighten a little around her.

"That girl doesn't realize how lucky she just got," Derek says pulling back watching as Pen wipes away a stray tear and laughs a little at his comment.

"I'm the lucky one hotshot. She's … " Pen just shakes her head looking back at her room before her eyes start watering again and she looks back over at him ".. she's the best part of my life already."

"Well, I can't wait to meet her - if she's anything like her momma she'll have me wrapped around her finger too," Derek smiles at Penelope watching as she blushes at his comment.

He didn't know when things started to get awkward between them, but he didn't like the distance they had accumulated between each other. He knew he hadn't made as much time for her as he did in the past with him and Janie and what he thought was her and Kevin being together it didn't leave much time for just the two of them. That was a big mistake on his part, and he was set on fixing it now.

Their silence is broken when they hear a heart wrenching cry come from Pen's room causing them both to run in and see a small blonde little thing in Penny's bed thrashing back and forth in what looks like extreme night terrors. Derek stays back, his heart racing as he watches Pen step cautiously beside the bed and kneel, her hand gently brushing back the little girl's sweaty hair as she whispers to her.

"Wake up Maddie, you're just having a nightmare baby – you're safe," Pen whispers a few times until the little girl opens up her eyes, immediately bursting into tears as she wraps her arms around Penny in fear - seeking comfort. Pen rocks her back and forth in her arms, shushing her and reassuring her of her safety as she runs her fingers soothingly through her hair in an effort to calm her down.

If he was the least bit hesitant about the two of them settling with each other, he knew right then and there he didn't need to be. There was an obvious bond between them that he had just witnessed first hand that made him feel like an intruder spying on the mother-daughter moment that was occurring right before his eyes.

His intrusion was made all the more evident when the little girl noticed him standing there watching them, he saw her tighten her arms and hide her face from him in Penelope's neck in an effort to hide herself from him – he was pretty sure it was in fear and the fact that she automatically had those self preservation skills developed at such a young age made him incredibly sad for her.

"Maddie," Penny whispers as she keeps running her fingers soothingly in the little girl's hair, "Come on, let's get you changed pretty girl."

Looking up in apology towards Derek, Pen notices him shake his head and wave for her to take the little girl to the bathroom – not worry about him. He also sees the wet spot on the bed where the little girl was laying, a mixture of sweat and urine he would imagine, probably due to her night terrors he had just witnessed. He hears the water turn on in the bathroom, figuring Penny is probably giving the little girl a quick soothing warm bath, he decides to grab some clean sheets out of her linen closet and sets about getting the bed changed in order to keep his mind from wandering.

A few minutes later, as he's sitting in the living room, he sees Penny walk out of the bedroom holding Maddie and a torn, beat up looking Elmo doll. They sit on the couch next to him, Maddie scooting a little farther away from him as she stares at him inquisitively.

"Maddie."

He hears Penny speak gently to the little girl who seems to relax a little as she hears Penelope's voice.

"I want you to meet a friend of mine. My best friend in the whole wide world."

The last sentence, was said with a wide exaggeration and a smile that made the little girl perk up curiously and look back over at Derek.

"Elmo?"

Maddie looks back over at Derek and Penny then Elmo in slight confusion.

"Yeah. He's my Elmo."

Derek tried to pretend that the fact that she just said he was hers didn't just make his heart constrict in his chest like it was doing right now.

"His name Elmo?"

Penny and Derek chuckled at the logic Maddie was following as she glanced back and forth between them.

"No his name is Derek."

"Dewik?"

Both adults nod and smile at the lack of pronunciation with her "r" in regards to his name. It just sounded more adorable the way she said it.

"Nice to meet you Maddie."

Derek nods and smiles gently at the little girl who didn't seem as frightened but still looked at him wearily.

"I should head home. It's getting late." He says, watching as Maddie cuddles into the crook of Penny's neck, making herself comfortable on her lap. With the amount of comfort they had between each other, it was pretty rare considering they hadn't known each other that long. But then again, he shouldn't be surprised. He'd always known Penelope had taken a mother hen role with anyone she was around; it wasn't a stretch to see her fall into her role as Maddie's mom with such grace and fluidness.

"Okay. I took another week off work. I haven't told anyone about this yet, we're still trying to get settled in – so…"

"I got it," Derek nods in understanding, his hands making a zip motion on his lip before his next statement. "My lips are sealed until you're ready babygirl."

Blowing out some air in relief, Pen's eyes soften and he can see her guard lowering itself as she looks back down at the sleeping toddler in her arms, her fingers soothingly running through her locks.

"You should get going Derek," Pen says, not looking up from where her eyes were currently glued to Maddie. "Janie's probably getting concerned."

Derek's brows furrow a bit in confusion. He knew his girlfriend and his bestfriend didn't really hit it off when they met, but Janie knew better than to mention anything to him about Pen. Janie had only been around for six months, he'd known his babygirl for over seven years. He's a bit hurt that she's already trying to put some space between the two of them again – he can't seem to figure out how to break down this wall that keeps erecting itself between them. But he wasn't going to give up on them. He wasn't going anywhere.

He'd be there in the morning, and all week long helping his girls settle in together. He'd do whatever it took to get his best friend back.

As he walked out of her apartment and settled in his car, he rubbed his hands tiredly over his face.

He had to get Penny back in his life, full time. Not those once in a while meet ups you schedule with old friends, the direction they seemed to be heading. He needed Penny back in his life.

Even if it meant he lost Janie in the process.

A/N: What'd you guys think? Leave a comment if you read it please - Since Derek and Pen's reunion lasted longer than I originally planned to write it, I left Maddie's introduction to the rest of the team and her visit with the guidance center for the next chapter. I'm trying to set a baseline for Derek to open his eyes to how important Pen has become in his life. Thanks again for all the comments and alerts, and story favorites! Those always make me more inspired to keep writing!